Chapter 269: Not One’s Own Flesh and Blood
Translated by BCatranslation
“Urgh!”
Lu Yuan Ze flung the blanket aside, and at just one glance, he retched on the spot.
How could this be?!
He stared in terror at everything before him, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. His eyes locked onto the Old Madam in shock and horror.
“Mother, why… why has all your flesh rotted away? Mother, it is I who am unfilial… I have let you suffer so…” Lu Yuan Ze did not dare to step forward, fear gripping his heart.
The Old Madam’s arms were marred with large patches of blackened decay, and clusters of white maggots wriggled in the festering flesh. The mattress beneath her was blackened, putrid, and oozed a sickly yellow liquid.
Her entire back was ulcerated, already leaking pus.
The Old Madam sobbed, unable to form words. Her son… her son… why did he not come to see her?!
Why did he not come to see her!
If Shi Yun were still here, if Shi Yun were still alive, how could she have suffered such torment?
Back then, when she had merely caught a mild cold, Shi Yun had stayed up all night without rest, never leaving her side, personally tending to her needs. That noble daughter of an esteemed family had even washed her feet with her own hands.
At night, at just the faintest groan of discomfort, Shi Yun would rise to care for her.
At the mere mention of hunger, Shi Yun would rush to the kitchen herself, burning her hands in the process, just to prepare food personally.
It was all her own fault. She had been blind, unable to recognize the true nature of people, and in the end, she had harmed both others and herself, leading to this tragic fate.
“That wretched Pei Jiao Jiao! She controls the household finances and dares to torment her mother-in-law like this!” Lu Yuan Ze’s eyes burned with rage.
He barely dared to look at his mother—there was not a single intact piece of flesh left on her body.
No wonder! No wonder they always said the Old Madam had a terrible temper, wailing day and night.
She had suffered unimaginable torment!
Tears streamed down Lu Yuan Ze’s face. Just the sight of those wriggling maggots sent an unbearable chill down his spine.
“P-Pei… t-traitor… t-treachery…” The Old Madam gnashed her teeth in hatred.
But her mouth was twisted, her speech slurred beyond recognition.
She could only struggle to warn her son.
She had planned everything so painstakingly, nearly killing Madam Xu just to give Pei Jiao Jiao a legitimate place in the family. In the end, after all her schemes, she had invited a venomous snake into her home!
“Mother, what are you trying to say? Shall I summon a physician for you?” Lu Yuan Ze asked with deep concern.
The Old Madam shook her head, desperately grasping his hand. “H-hall…”
“P-person…”
“H-hall… person…” she wept in urgency, her trembling finger pointing toward the Little Buddha Hall.
Lu Yuan Xi… Lu Yuan Xi, that bastard child!
That wretched maid, Li Qiao, had been used to help her son compete for favor, yet she had the audacity to conceive a child!
And now, that bastard was making a mockery of her son!
The Old Madam was filled with endless regret!
The Lu family was doomed!
Lu Yuan Ze pressed his lips together, his teeth clenching tightly. “Mother, I will go to the Buddha Hall.”
“I will return shortly to check on you.” With a dark expression, Lu Yuan Ze strode quickly toward the Little Buddha Hall.
Pei Jiao Jiao was too arrogant.
Perhaps because he had been neglecting household affairs and had not set foot in De Shan Hall for two months, she had grown blindly overconfident.
She had never once taken the Old Madam’s cries seriously.
Instead, she laughed mockingly, saying, “That wretched old hag is wailing again, trying to get her son’s attention.” Pei Jiao Jiao lay against the chest of a man, twirling a lock of his hair around her fingers.
Lu Yuan Xi smirked, his brows relaxed. “Does she truly think Lu Yuan Ze is anything good? That heartless, selfish man? He hasn’t even checked on his ailing mother in two months—does she really think he will save her now?”
Pei Jiao Jiao curled her lips. “That old crone is insufferable. Does she think I’m as stupid as Shi Yun?”
“I am not foolish enough to serve her like a slave.”
“She cries and wails all day—it’s unbearable. I should find an opportunity to poison her throat so she can never speak again. I’ve lived in fear every day, worried she will expose our secret.” Pei Jiao Jiao’s voice dripped with venom.
Lu Yuan Xi chuckled. “Why go to such trouble? Just pour a pot of boiling water down her throat—that should silence her.”
“That is true.” Pei Jiao Jiao grinned.
“That old crone keeps saying I am her niece, that she should treat me well. Ha! She only wanted to keep me as a mistress, hidden in the shadows!”
“The Marquis’s household enjoys wealth and honor while I suffered outside. How dare she say she cared for me?”
“If she truly cared, she should have let Madam Xu die so I could become the rightful wife!” Pei Jiao Jiao’s face twisted with hatred.
The man beside her pinched her cheek.
“You’re the clever one. Lu Yuan Ze exiled his own son and daughter just to raise my children…” Before he could finish his words—
BANG!
Lu Yuan Ze kicked the door open.
His eyes burned red with fury, his whole body shaking with rage.
Veins bulged on his forehead, his bloodshot eyes filled with murderous intent.
He pointed at Pei Jiao Jiao and bellowed, “You unfaithful wretch! Pei Jiao Jiao, you dare to make a fool of me?! How dare you!!”
Lu Yuan Ze was driven to madness.
“Wretch!” He lunged at her like a madman.
Grabbing Pei Jiao Jiao by the hair, he dragged her, stripped bare, to the ground.
“Ah! Brother Xi, save me!” Pei Jiao Jiao screamed.
She was yanked onto the cold floor.
Lu Yuan Xi’s expression changed drastically, and he immediately tried to flee.
The servants had already alerted the guards waiting outside.
“Seize the adulterer! There will be a heavy reward!” Lu Yuan Ze roared, and at once, the guards charged in.
Lu Yuan Ze yanked Pei Jiao Jiao’s hair with all his strength, nearly ripping her scalp from her skull.
“Ah! Pain—so much pain!” Pei Jiao Jiao howled.
“Pain? You still know pain, you wretched woman?! You dared to betray me! How dare you!!” Lu Yuan Ze was utterly deranged with rage.
For Pei Jiao Jiao, for the sake of their so-called children, he had driven Lu Yan Shu, Lu Zheng Yue, Lu Yuan Xiao, and even Lu Chao Chao out of his home.
He had placed all his hopes on Lu Jing Huai and Lu Jing Yao!
He had sacrificed everything just so they could reclaim their rightful place!
But…
“Lu Jing Huai and Lu Jing Yao are not my children?”
“You mean to tell me… they are not of my blood?!” He slapped Pei Jiao Jiao’s face relentlessly, his eyes filled with madness.
“You dared to bring that false monk, that adulterer, into my home! How long have you been deceiving me?!” Lu Yuan Ze felt bile rise in his throat, the sheer pain making him tremble violently.
He could not fathom how many years Pei Jiao Jiao had been lying to him.
He recalled how he had once praised her for her devotion, staying in the Little Buddha Hall to pray for his mother. Now, he wanted to grind his teeth into dust.
“How could you do this to me? I abandoned my wife and children for you, and you still betrayed me?!” Lu Yuan Ze could never have imagined that Pei Jiao Jiao had made a fool of him all these years.
“Pah!” Pei Jiao Jiao spat blood onto his face.
Her eyes brimmed with malice.
“And what are you, exactly? You dare speak of betrayal?!” Pei Jiao Jiao laughed coldly.
“You claimed to love me, yet you kept me hidden like a disgrace!”
“You feasted in the Marquis’s household while I suffered in the dark. Why should I accept that?!” Pei Jiao Jiao sneered with venom.
“You cast aside your wife of eighteen years, even plotted to kill her! You are the most selfish and ruthless of all!” She cackled spitefully, spitting out a broken tooth.
“Bring that adulterer and the handmaid here!” Lu Yuan Ze roared, forcing down the blood churning in his chest.
Neither of his children were his own.
Just the thought sent shivers through his bones.